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Historical Notes on Coffee

In the late 1600s, the Turkish army swept across much of Eastern and CentralEurope, arriving at Vienna in 1683. Besieged and desperate, the Viennese neededan emissary who could pass through Turkish lines to get a message to the nearbyPolish troops. Franz George Kolshitsky, who spoke Turkish and Arabic, took onthe assignment disguised in a Turkish uniform. After many perilous close calls,Kolshitsky completed his valiant deed, returning to give the Viennese the newsof the Poles' imminent rescue of their city. On September 13, the Turks wererepelled from Vienna, leaving everything they brought: camels, tents, honey,and strange bags of beans which were thought to be camel feed. Kolshitsky,having lived in the Arab world for several years, knew these were bags ofcoffee. Using the money bestowed on him by the mayor of Vienna for his heroicdeed, Kolshitsky bought the Turks' coffee, opened Central Europe's first coffeehouse (The Blue Bottle), and brought coffee to a grateful Vienna.